News Release

What The Book of Mormon Means to Me

The Book of Mormon was first made available to the world on this date in 1830. Since it was first published in English, the Book of Mormon has been fully translated into 82 languages, and printed copies have totalled more than 150 million. It has been described as the "keystone" of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From the beginning, Church members have accepted it as scripture.

This doesn't mean the Book of Mormon replaces the Bible as scripture for members of the Church. The Bible and the Book of Mormon are used side by side in their preaching and personal study.
Latter-day Saints also consider the Book of Mormon to be a record of great ancient-American civilizations.

To mark the anniversary of the first printing of the Book of Mormon, three Latter-day Saints living in the Pacific Area have shared what the book means to them:

Ataake Tekanene, Kiribati:

When I joined the Church in 2001 I never seriously took the Book of Mormon as a means of finding solutions to my problems even when I heard and learned from my fellow Church members. Now it is my refuge!!! And as an Institute teacher I always ask my students to read it for counsel and comfort. A good example is about the sons of Lehi returning to get the record from Laban. They cast lots as to who would go and get the record. The one who got the lot went but did not succeed. Nephi succeeded not because he got the lot but because he prayed to Heavenly Father. This teaches us that only through praying with a sincere heart to Heavenly Father that you can succeed. Not through luck!!! A copy of the Book of Mormon is always with me now and whenever I need answers to my problems I always resort to it. I am now quite familiar with the verses in the Book of Mormon so whenever I encounter trouble, my mind quickly refers to the verses and in that way I am always at peace.

Paula Rowe, New Zealand:

As I quietly read the Book of Mormon, taking time and pondering the words and the message, the Holy Ghost bears witness to me that I am receiving truth. This experience is deeply nourishing. This fills my soul with gladness. My faith in Jesus Christ and my love for Him are deepened through these treasured times of study.


Paul Whippy, Papua New Guinea:

The Book of Mormon was for me the confirmation that the Prophet Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw and that the Church was divinely organized. I was 17 when I first read 3 Nephi 11 and I was overcome by the truthfulness of the account of Jesus Christ's appearance to the inhabitants of ancient America. I could not hold back the tears as I felt a warm and most comforting and peaceful feeling that filled my whole being. I testify that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the most correct book on the earth and that a man will get closer to God by living by its precepts than any other book.

Steve Coy, New Zealand:

As a small boy, before my family joined the Church, I had been fascinated by a documentary on TV about legends of South America. When the missionaries taught our family about Christ's resurrection, and that He showed himself to His people in the New World, as well as the Old World, I remember how excited I felt that the legends had their genesis in a very real and very sacred event. However, I didn't try to read the whole Book of Mormon until I was a teenager. I found many chapters of the Book difficult to read but when I came to one chapter where a young man had been struggling with his sins - but he says, "I remembered... to have heard my father prophesy... concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ... to atone for the sins of the world. Now. As my mind caught hold upon this thought... I cried with in my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy upon me... And now behold when I thought this I could remember my pains no more; yea I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more....oh, what joy and what marvellous light." This scripture had a powerful effect on me, as I too wanted to be clean before God. I then learned that the Book of Mormon was more than just a story of Christ's resurrection but a sacred text that has helped me come nearer to Christ.

Read more about the Book of Mormon here. Read the Book of Mormon online here.

 

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